Personalized Finger Puppet

ABSTRACT

A personalized finger puppet that is composed of a body. The body is at least three inches and at most six inches in height and is at least two inches and at most six inches in length. The body has a top, a middle and bottom section. The top section defines a transparent pocket and the bottom section defines a pair of finger sleeves. A personalized facial image removably attaches to the pocket.

BACKGROUND

The present invention is directed to a finger puppet that builds children's sense of self. It allows children to play a game in a manner that develops their hand to eye coordination.

The puppet of the present invention a is a puppet that is manipulated by using two fingers of the hand of a child. The fingers of the child are inserted within the leg portion of the puppet. The leg portion of the puppet is two distinct sleeves that are adjacent to each other.

There are finger puppets that allow children to insert their fingers through two apertures: see http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/soccer_player_finger_puppets.htm. The puppets are meant to allow children to insert their fingers through the two apertures, yet they do not allow the children to visualize themselves as being part of the puppet. The puppet of the present invention allows the puppet to be an extension of the child, rather than an entity that would be distinct from the child. How? The child's fingers become the legs of the puppet and a personalized photographic image of the child is inserted in to the face of the puppet.

The present invention allows children playing with the puppet to personally morph into the toy, thereby allowing the child to perform an activity, in a minimized scale, that he or she may not otherwise be able to perform due to his or her environment. The puppet allows the child to play actively, rather than through a passive image that is controlled using a preset environment. By allowing the child to actively manipulate the toy, the child is forced to use his or her imagination, rather than the imagination of a programmer of a passive video game.

Personalized passive dolls are known in the art of dolls. The dolls allow any child playing with the dolls to develop a sense of self when looking at the dolls, yet they do not allow the child to manipulate the extremities of the dolls by using his or her own fingers to become part of the doll. The finger puppet of the present invention develops the hand to eye coordination of the child while allowing the child to morph into the toy.

Personalized dolls that have been patented are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 2,199,049, A. D. Greenberg; U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,987, Hull et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,370, Flint; U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,378, George et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,841, Becker et al. None of the patents disclose a personalized finger puppet that allows a child to morph into the toy and actively perform activities that develop the child's hand to eye coordination.

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a personalized finger puppet that will develop a child's sense of self and develops the child's hand to eye coordination.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a personalized finger puppet device that develops a child's sense of worth and develops his or her eye to hand coordination.

The present invention is a personalized finger puppet that comprises of a body that is at least three inches and at most six inches in height and is at least two inches and at most six inches in length, the body has a top, a middle and bottom section, the top section defines a transparent pocket and the bottom section defines a pair of finger sleeves, and a personalized facial image removably attaches to the pocket. In a further embodiment of the invention, the personalized finger puppet further comprises of an elastic stabilizing band that attaches to the middle section of the body.

The present invention is used by inserting ideally the fingers 200 of the hand of a user through the elastic stabilizing band 16 of the finger puppet 100 and then inserting two fingers of the hand through the sleeves 12 of the finger puppet 100. If using the finger footwear 50 of one of the embodiments of the finger puppet 50, then inserting ideally the tips of the index and the middle finger in the finger footwear 50.

An object of the present invention is to provide a personalized finger puppet that will develop a child's sense of self.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a personalized finger puppet that will develop a child's hand to eye coordination.

DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of the finger puppet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear plan view of the finger puppet of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the finger puppet showing the fingers of a user inserted within the finger puppet's sleeves;

FIG. 4 is a rear plan view of the finger puppet showing the fingers of a user inserted within the finger puppet's sleeves;

FIG. 5 is a front plan view of the finger puppet of the present invention showing a ballerina outfit;

FIG. 6 is a rear plan view of the finger puppet of the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front plan view of the finger puppet showing the fingers of a user inserted within the finger puppet's sleeves of the embodiment of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a rear plan view of the finger puppet showing the fingers of a user inserted within the finger puppet's sleeves of the embodiment of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION

As seen in FIGS. 1-8, a personalized finger puppet 100 comprising a body 10, the body 10 is at least three inches and at most six inches in height and is at least two inches and at most six inches in length. The body has a top 10 a, a middle 10 b and bottom 10 c section. The top section 10 a defines a transparent pocket 13 and the bottom section 10 c defines a pair of finger sleeves 12. A personalized facial image 14 removably attaches to the pocket 13.

As seen in FIGS. 2, 4, 6, and 8, In a further embodiment of the invention, the personalized finger puppet 100 further comprises of an elastic stabilizing band 16 that attaches to the middle section of the body 10 b that supports the top section of the body 10 in an upright position.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the personalized finger puppet 100 further comprises of a pair of finger footwear 50 that resemble a sock 50 or a shoe 50, the finger footwear attaches to the body 10 via a user's finger tips 200 after they are sleeved through the finger sleeves 12 of the personalized finger puppet 100.

As seen in FIGS. 1-8, in further embodiments of the present invention, the personalized finger puppet may define a uniform of a sports team or an outfit of a ballerina.

The present invention is used by inserting ideally the fingers 200 of the hand of a user through the elastic stabilizing band 16 of the finger puppet 100 and then inserting two fingers of the hand through the sleeves 12 of the finger puppet 100. If using the finger footwear 50 of one of the embodiments of the finger puppet 50, then inserting ideally the tips of the index and the middle finger in the finger footwear 50. In a preferred embodiment, the finger footwear 50 would be made of rubber, although they may be made of any material.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a personalized finger puppet that develops a child's sense of self.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a personalized finger puppet which develops a child's hand to eye coordination.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail in reference to preferred versions, other versions are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A personalized finger puppet that is used to develop a child's sense of self and that develops eye to hand coordination, the finger puppet comprises: a body, the body is at least three inches and at most six inches in height and is at least two inches and at most six inches in length, the body has a top, a middle and bottom section, the top section defines a transparent pocket and the bottom section defines a pair of finger sleeves; and a personalized facial image removably attaches to the pocket.
 2. The personalized finger puppet of claim 1, further comprising an elastic stabilizing band that attaches to the middle section of the body.
 3. The personalized finger puppet of claim 2, further comprises a pair of finger footwear that resemble a sock or a shoe, the finger footwear attaches to the body via a user's finger tips after they are sleeved through the finger sleeves of the personalized finger puppet
 4. The personalized finger puppet of claim 3, wherein the personalized finger puppet may define a uniform of a sports team.
 5. The personalized finger puppet of claim 3, wherein the personalized finger puppet may define a uniform of a ballerina.
 6. The personalized finger puppet of claim 3, wherein the personalized finger puppet may define a uniform. 